Carmel Carroll —
mezzo soprano and operatic director
Mezzo soprano: Carmel stole all hearts with a stunning performance.
Operatic director Carmel Carroll:
her sense of pace, timing, stage business and ensemble could hardly be faulted.
Carmel's vision for singing and directing opera: Opera singing involves service to the text and the composer, uniting their work so it becomes a coherent meaningful drama through vocal and physical expression
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International New Zealand Artists represents Carmel Carroll.
www.inza.co.nz/CC.php
email: jamie@inza.co.nz
Carroll’s superb vocal ability and strong acting expertise were exceptional and I do not expect that any singer of international standing could have given a better performance. New Zealand Opera News
Being called upon to sing the Verdi Requiem with only 24 hours notice was a most invigorating and exhilarating experience. I had previously performed the requiem four years before, but when a colleague fell ill I was given a rehearsal on the Saturday morning and went on that night for a major performance in the Auckland Town hall, which was also being recorded. It was as though I had been lifted into the eye of a hurricane- intensely concentrated and strangely clear. I did well and I still smile and feel proud at the memory.
Reviews — Carmel Carroll
Mezzo soprano
Carmen
Carmel Carroll brought big time sensuality as well as a fine
voice to the stage.
Gary Flockhart, Evening News,
Edinbugh, UK, March 2004
A trouser suited Carmen played
by Carmel Carroll had more of the madam than the firey temptress about
her but she did it with presence, flashes of wit and rich gutsy singing.
Mary Crockett, Scotsman, UK, March, 2004
Falstaff
Soon the Windsor wives arrive, a triumphant foursome. The Bourgeois wives, Alice and Meg, are Patricia Wright and Carmel Carroll: two fine singers in roles that fit like a glove.
Lindis Taylor, The
Evening Post, Wellington New Zealand
The four women are a formidable sisterhood... Carmel Carrol slyly knowing as Meg Page.
Roger Wilson, The Listener, New Zealand
Director
Cosi fan tutte
Director Carmel Carroll's craft and wide experience was felt everywhere with very effective use of limited resources. Stylised sets and props with imaginative lighting were all artfully managed so that the action flowed smoothly and the dramatic momentum was well sustained. The well drilled convincing acting and choreographed movements of all singers gave the whole performance a remarkable polish. Overall a magnificent performance and the biggest bouquet goes to Carmel Carroll.
Daily Post, Rotorua, New Zealand
Magic Flute
She showed a sure grasp of all the nuances in the work, her practical experience enabled her to place the singers to advantage and her sense of pace, timing, stage business and ensemble could hardly be faulted.
Adrienne Simpson, Opera Opera, Australia
Die Fledermaus
Carmel Carroll is Director and co-designer and with the help of attractive simple sets, she manages the predominantly young cast with great skill.
Lindis Taylor, Evening Post, Wellington, New Zealand
Cheryomushki
Carroll's direction is buzzing with energy. She knows how to move people to make them look like crowds, to form groups and how to project over the footlights. Inspired direction.
Rod Biss, Sunday Star Times, New Zealand
CDs featuring Carmel Carroll's work
Verdi Requiem
Opera New Zealand/Auckland Philharmonia, 1998,
Patricia Wright, Soprano,
Carmel Carroll, Mezzo soprano,
Richard Greager, Tenor,
Rodney Macann, Bass.
Nicholas Braithewaite, Conductor
Atoll CDs.
Listen to an excerpt.
Recorded live in the Auckland Town Hall, New Zealand, 1998. Listen and buy from OpusCDs.
Songs of Passion,
arias and duets for Mezzo and Soprano
Sue Boland, soprano,
Carmel Carroll, mezzo soprano,
The South Pacific Symphony
Listen to an excerpt.
A compilation that includes rarely performed as well as extremely well known arias. Available from Marbecks.
Desperate Remedies, Soundtrack
Conducted and produced by Peter Scholes.
Music Published by Mana/Warner Music Publishing, 1993.
Film by Stewart Main and Peter Wells; starred Jennifer Ward Leyland and the late Kevin Smith.
Listen to excerpts and purchase from opusCDs.com
Listen to Carmel Carroll
Here are the opening words in the Bellini's Se Romeo t'uccise un figlio. Click to play (00.04).
Click ‘Listen’ to download the other files.
The following 2 excerpts are from Songs of Passion: arias and duets, The South Pacific Symphony.
- From Bellini I Capuleti e i Motecchi: Se Romeo t'uccise un figlio.
0:10 60k mp3 Listen - From Rossini Il Barbiere di Siviglia: Una voce poco fa.
0:37 228k mp3 Listen
- From Verdi Requiem, Opera New Zealand, track 4, Liber Scriptus.
0:31 188k mp3 Listen
0:55 300k mp3 Listen
See below for details.
Mezzo Soprano — Carmel Carroll
My Career as a professional singer began as chorus member of the Mercury Opera in Auckland. I moved through the company graduating from covers and small roles to principal opportunities, which then lead to work with other companies. I have been employed by all the major New Zealand Opera Companies in their various incarnations since 1987. Through the early years I was occasionally successful with competitions and awards, the most notable being selection to participate in the Pacific Voices Festival at the San Francisco Opera House.
Although I have performed in San Francisco, Edinburgh and London most of my work has been local as I have shaped my life around my career as well as the joys and demands of family life. If I have specialised at all it would be in the study of stagecraft which I am convinced is the key to the survival of opera.
For almost twenty years Carmel Carroll has been appearing in Opera throughout New Zealand.
Since her overnight success as Rosina in Mercury Theatre’s production of The Barber of Seville she has gone on to become a household name and much-loved performer.
Highly praised by critics and public alike, her opera roles include:
- Carmen, Carmen
- Sextus, Clemenza di Tito
- Rosina, Barber of Seville
- Chrerubino, Marriage of Figaro
- Dorabella, Cosi fan tutte
- Suzuki, Madame Butterfly
- Siebel, Faust
- Meg Page, Falstaff.
Regular appearances with the Auckland Philharmonia and all the major national orchestras in New Zealand have established her reputation not only in opera but also in oratorio and concert work.
Major concert performances include:
- Handel's Messiah
- Verdi Requiem
- Bach St John Passion, St Mathew Passion
- Erda in Das Rheingold
- Schwertleite; in Die Walkure.
An example of the recognition of her wide audience appeal and versatility came when Allan Smythe made her a featured artist in all of the Opera in the Park concerts.
Carmel Carroll — Operatic Director
Carmel has been in the news for her burgeoning career as an Operatic Director.
The directing string to my bow arose from collegial conversations on a small scale, but I instantly discovered that I have not only a different hat as a director but actually a different head.
I am passionate and demanding about the way things should be done. I have to meld the music with the drama to open the pages for the audience. I have to have love and hard work and when I work there is both respect and laughter. Inside however I am a vicious predator pouncing on the creation of each moment.
Over the last few years Carmel has made many contributions to the Chamber Opera Scene, with sold out seasons of The Medium, and La Serva Padrona for Co-Opera, and productions of Shostokovich's Cheryomushki and Menotti's The Boy Who Grew Too Fast.
She has directed for the major companies:
- National Opera Wellington, for whom she has directed The Magic Flute and Cosi fan Tutte
- Opera New Zealand who mounted new productions of Cavallieria Rusticana and Pagliacci both of which received enormous acclaim from the opera going public.
